Antonio Garrido - The Corpse Reader

“Yes, that’s what I heard.”

“So is there a problem?”

“The report mentioned a young man who was helping you. He was in disguise and had burn marks on his hands and torso. This fits the description of a fugitive I’ve been tracking: a young male, tall and slim, good-looking, hair tied up…”

“That little bastard!” spat Xu. “I’ve been cursing myself for hiring him. He vanished yesterday and took some money from me. I was going to report it at the end of the week.”

“Mmm,” grunted Kao. “So I suppose you have no idea where he is now?”

“No, I mean, he could be anywhere…What’s he wanted for?”

“Stealing money. There’s also a reward on his head.”

Xu’s tone changed. “A reward?”

Just then there was a noise from inside the mausoleum.

“Is there someone in there?”

“No, I swear—”

“Out of the way!”

Though he’d bolted the door, Cí could see Xu wasn’t able to detain Kao. The cemetery suddenly seemed very small; even if he escaped through a window of the mausoleum and ran, the hound would surely catch him. There was no way out. He was trapped.

“Nothing in there but the dead!” he heard Xu cry, as Kao began battering on the bolted mausoleum door.

“I’ll make sure of that,” roared Kao.

The door was sturdy, and the bolt seemed as though it could withstand the pounding Kao was giving it. Standing back, Kao spied a large board on the ground. Grabbing it, he smiled at Xu. The first impact made splinters fly; two more and a large crack appeared in the door. Kao was about to strike again when the door opened from inside. A figure stepped out, dressed in a necromancer’s outfit, arms raised and trembling.

“The mask, take it off! Now!” shouted Kao. The dog was straining at the leash.

The man’s hands were trembling so much he couldn’t undo the knots on the mask.

“Get on with it! The gloves, take them off!”

The man began taking the gloves off, peeling them away one finger at a time. First the right, then the left. Kao’s face went from triumph to stupefaction in an instant.

“But…but you…”

The hands were wrinkled, but there wasn’t a single burn on them. Overcome with rage, Kao ripped the mask off, coming face-to-face with an elderly, and clearly very frightened, man.

“Out of my way.”

Kao pushed past the imposter and went into the mausoleum, kicking anything and everything in his path. He howled: the place was empty. He came back out and grabbed Xu.

“Damned liar! Tell me where he is or I’ll stuff your head down your throat!”

Xu swore he didn’t know.

“I’m going to have eyes on you day and night. If that boy comes back to you, I swear you’ll regret it.”

“He won’t be coming back. He robbed me. If I do ever see him, I’ll be the first to give him a beating.”

Kao left the cemetery in a whirl of oaths and curses.

When Cí told Xu how he’d paid the gardener to dress up in the outfit, Xu couldn’t help but laugh.

“But how on earth did you manage to not be found?”

“Got the gardener to shut me in a coffin—and make it look like it was nailed shut.”

Xu told Cí what had happened with Kao. “I think you’re going to have to tell me why they’re after you. He mentioned a reward,” Xu said, smiling, “but I don’t think it can be as much as you and I are making together!”

Cí hesitated—he knew his story was barely believable. He also sensed something in Xu he didn’t know if he trusted.

“Maybe it’s time for us to stop,” said Cí.

“No way. We’ll change the disguise to something that makes you stand out less. Pick the clientele better. And make it clear they can’t go telling the world about us.” He winked. “I’m not an ambitious man. We’ve got plenty of clients for now.”

But Cí still had the feeling that Xu would do whatever suited him. He’d said that this was by far the most lucrative enterprise he’d been involved in.

“I’m not sure, Xu. I don’t want you to get in trouble on my account.”

“Don’t worry. We’re in this together. Really. But let’s forget about our little shows for a while, do something else.”

Cí nodded.

But two days later, Cí found out that he and Xu weren’t really in it together at all.

It was cold that morning, and Xu’s wives began complaining that Third was nothing but a nuisance. She was a slow learner, her head was always in the clouds, she got the prawns and the shrimp mixed up, and she ate too much. Plus they always had to look out for her health, which Cí knew was getting worse.

“Maybe we sell her,” shrugged Xu. It was a common thing to do when families were hard up, he pointed out. Of course, Cí wouldn’t hear of it.

“Marry her off, then,” suggested one of the wives.

Xu was all for it. He didn’t see how Cí could object. It was simply a question of finding a man who liked that she was still so young. When it came down to it, Xu thought girls were a nuisance until the day they married.

“It’s what we did with ours. Third’s eight years old—just tart her up a bit so she doesn’t look so sickly. I can think of plenty of guys who’d love a little puppy like her.”

Cí went and stood by Third. It wasn’t unusual for girls to be offered in marriage at a young age—sometimes it was their best chance in life—but Cí couldn’t accept the idea of Third being slobbered over by some old man.

But Xu kept on pushing.

As always, Cí’s only recourse was to offer money. But he was running out of that fast. Third’s medicine seemed to be having less effect; she needed more and more all the time. Since Xu had taken over the necromancer duties, and since he had gotten numerous tellings wrong, their joint income was much lower. In fact, before this conversation started, Cí had been about to ask for a loan.

“You’re going to have to go back to earning proper money yourself,” said Xu, pointing to the necromancer’s outfit. Cí looked at it; though Xu had said he would modify it, he had barely done so. Cí took a deep breath and frowned. He worried about Kao’s coming back, but if he wanted to save his sister, he had no choice.

That afternoon a group of students and their professor came to the cemetery. Seeing them coming, Xu told Cí how they would sometimes have visits from Ming Academy. For a fee, they were allowed to examine any unclaimed corpses. Luckily, there were three there at the time. Xu was exultant.

“Get dressed,” he said. “These youngsters are so easy to get money out of, if you don’t mind groveling a bit.”

Cí did as he was told, the thought of Third spurring him on.

He watched from a corner, waiting for Xu’s signal. The professor, a bald man dressed in red who seemed somehow familiar, arranged the students around the first body. Before they began, he reminded them of their responsibilities as future judges: respect for the dead and honor in their judgments were of utmost importance. Then he lifted the sheet covering the corpse, revealing a baby girl, a few months old perhaps, who had been found dead in a canal that morning. The professor embarked on a round of questions for the students to discern the cause of death.

“Drowned, no question,” said the first, a fresh-faced youth with a smug air. “Swollen belly, no other marks.”

The professor nodded, inviting the next student to speak.

“A typical case of drowned child. The parents threw her in the canal to avoid caring for her.”